The owners of the detained Russian tanker claim that the US illegally sold the ship for scrap. NBC News. The Bella 1 was stopped in the North Atlantic earlier this year after a dramatic high seas chase. US authorities have sold a confiscated Russian oil tanker to a marine scrap dealer for well below market value in an "economically irrational" deal designed to thwart the owner's attempt to reclaim the vessel, according to court documents filed by the company's lawyers. The tanker Bella 1 was captured by the US military in the North Atlantic Ocean in early January after a multi-week high seas chase. US authorities said the ship was carrying illegal Iranian oil and was seized while trying to escape the US blockade of Venezuela. Lawyers for the ship's Russian owner, Burevestmarine LLC, dispute that claim. The ship was sold to a scrap dealer for $9.1 million, well below the $21 million Bella 1 would have fetched as scrap, company lawyers said. The tanker has "significantly greater value" as an "operational commercial vessel", lawyers say. According to them, the sale was carried out "behind closed doors" as part of "self-serving and unjustified decisions".

The owners of the detained Russian tanker claim that the US illegally sold the ship for scrap. NBC News. The Bella 1 was stopped in the North Atlantic earlier this year after a dramatic high seas chase. US authorities have sold a confiscated Russian oil tanker to a marine scrap dealer for well below market value in an "economically irrational" deal designed to thwart the owner's attempt to reclaim the vessel, according to court documents filed by the company's lawyers. The tanker Bella 1 was captured by the US military in the North Atlantic Ocean in early January after a multi-week high seas chase. US authorities said the ship was carrying illegal Iranian oil and was seized while trying to escape the US blockade of Venezuela. Lawyers for the ship's Russian owner, Burevestmarine LLC, dispute that claim. The ship was sold to a scrap dealer for $9.1 million, well below the $21 million Bella 1 would have fetched as scrap, company lawyers said. The tanker has "significantly greater value" as an "operational commercial vessel", lawyers say. According to them, the sale was carried out "behind closed doors" as part of "self-serving and unjustified decisions".